


born 2 run

by vommitkiddo



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Childhood Friends, Humanstuck, M/M, dirkjake - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-01
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:07:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27808042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vommitkiddo/pseuds/vommitkiddo
Summary: Dirk is devastated by Jake dumping him, until he comes home a little too early.
Relationships: Jake English/Dirk Strider
Kudos: 7





	born 2 run

The sun glared down at your general direction, and you're sitting on your porch, your spiked-up hair drooping in the heat. You’d be in your room drawing questionable images in ms paint, but the Big Man had different plans for your sweaty ass, on account of the air conditioner breaking on the hottest day of the year. Last time you threw a goat in his holy pit. You scan the trailer park you uncomfortably reside, searching for a miraculous AC repairman to magically appear from the hot Texas smog, but alas, no such luck.

Lizards bake on the scraggly rocks, taking breaks to sleep in the shade of the nearby cacti drooping in fatigue. Trash blows by in the lackluster breeze, hitting stray cats in the face and rustling like leaves.

All the gutter trash are out, moms with their curlers smoking in lawn chairs, their little shits flinging rocks at rattlesnakes, eatin’ shit off the ground. Sunburned grandpas lounge in their lawn chairs, youths out working on their cars and chatting with friends. You think you spot a coyote pass out halfway in the gutter. 

You don’t like days like this, days when there really isn’t a choice but to wait for someone interesting to come around and talk your ears off. It doesn’t help you haven’t been feeling the best lately. Just this morning you could barely drag your ass out of bed. You don’t really know what it is. Well, maybe you do. But you don’t want to think about it.

You get up and wipe the sweat from your brow. Maybe you’ll go by his house. Can’t hurt to stop by and creepily peer into the windows-  
No. It’s over, it’s finished. There's no use dwelling on the past.

You stroll down the street, staring at your feet to check for scorpions and other such anklebiters, your back baking like a frozen waffle in a toaster. People from the city always say you look sad. You think they’re spoiled yuppies.

You walk past your cousin Roxy’s house, pumpkins large and bulbous and sprinkled every which way along their lawn. The house is painted a shade of pink unperceivable by human minds, with a bright yellow roof and a shocking cyan door. Furniture is scattered every which way, tables and couches chilling languidly with orange gourds. They’re sitting in a hot pink deck chair on their porch, a cocktail in their pink talons and a Bruce Springsteen CD on their boombox. “Hey, baby, what’s shakin’???” they call, waving ecstatically from their porch. You smile, and wave back. Roxy has such a vibrant personality, it’s hard not to feel peppy around them.

“Roxanne Lalonde, what a pleasure. What’s with the cocktail? Weren't you supposed to be sober now?” you say, walking across their lawn to their porch.  
“Wanna know a secret? It’s just pink lemonade and Fanta, lol. It’s suuuuper delish, want me to go make you one?” They giggle, then take an obnoxious slurp from their cocktail, staring at you mischievously.

“Nah, i’m not going to make you go into your house. It’s basically a microwave right now.”  
“Suit yourself, honey.”

You sit in silence for a little bit, until Roxy starts softly singing along with the music.

“I thought only old men listen to Springsteen.” you smirk, but Roxy keeps on singing .

They smile. “C’mon, you know the words. Uncle Dave used to listen to him while he worked on his shitty car!”

They sing louder, swaying their lanky body along to the beat. You shake your head and make a move to leave, but they grab your hand.

“C’mon Dirk, you know how this goes. "

‘’Oh, baby this town rips the bones from your back; it's a death trap, it's a suicide rap.’”

They put their drink down, and hold your wrists, dancing slightly. God damn it, they know this song…. means something to you. It means him.

You sing quietly at first, barely above a whisper. Roxy lights up, and sings louder.

“We gotta get out while we're young, `cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run”

Their hair blows lightly in the breeze, and you remember they always had a really nice voice. When they were little and their mom would get stressed, Roxy would always sing for her.

And Jake would too.  
You don't want to think about this. You promised yourself you wouldn't, and here you are, talking to stupid Roxy about old memories and old songs and God, why do you feel like crying.? 

“Hey, Dirk, are you ok?” they say putting their hand on your shoulder.

“I- I’m fine.” you sniff, wiping snot off your upper lip. Damn, you thought you were handling this well.

“ I’m sorry,” they say, looking away ,”I just… I hate seeing you so sad. This is the only time I've seen you out of your own will, and it's been 6 months. 

“ I’m just…… It’s been months, Dirk, and i know you were in lo-”

“No.” you say, “don’t say that word.’

“Ok, you really, really liked him. But i think it’s unhealthy! And besides, he’s already back in town-”

“Wait, really?” you startle. “It’s only been a couple months, I thought he was moving there permanently.”

“Well, I guess he’s back. I talked to him, and Dirk, it was so good. I missed him so much, I thought- I thought…..”

“You thought he forgot about us. Yeah-” you look away, “me too.”

“You know he wouldn't do that. He loves us, he loves you, he just-”

“Didn’t want to stay in this hick town all his life, yeah, i know.”

They bite their lip. You know they were torn apart when jake left, almost as much as you. They’d been joined at the hip since 3rd grade, and you remember them begging him to go to the community college, because god, they’d miss him more than anything.

You both thought you were never going to see him again.

“But he’s back! And he’s staying. And it can be good, and it will be just like we thought when we were kids….”

“Roxy, you know it’s not going to be the same. I- I can’t just trust him again. I lo- really care about him, but i- I’ll always be thinking he’s going to go again. “

“Yeah… i get that feeling.”

You sit in silence for a moment.

“You should talk to him.”

“What???? Fuck no, why would i do that?”

“So you’re just going to ignore him until you ultimately, i don’t know, behead him and make out with his lifeless noggin?”

“I was hoping I’d never have to interact with him, like, ever.”

“You can’t just avoid all your problems!!

“I can, I’m actually very good at it.”

“You know what, fine. Go feed your chickens, you fag.”

They sit down and go back to sipping their cocktail. 

Very loudly.

Their loud slurping noises start grating on your nerves, and you finally cave.

“Fine!!!! I’ll go talk to him.”

“Heh, works every time.”


End file.
